I think it's much more important for mods to have funny socks and do things the members enjoy and spread love and happiness and all that around the JC than it is for members to know on sight whether a given name belongs to a mod. Ideally, the job of a moderator is to facilitate discussion and make the JC more fun. That's why I don't think your analogy with undercover CIA operatives holds up.

I like it when people don't liek others opinions and arguments so they harrass them, it makes me love the boards that much more. I think MODs have as much a right to socks as regulars do, if it is a Mod or Mod sock. either way the users posting style should be consistent even if there is no MOD around. On the other hand I don't think Mods should sue there socks to express an opinion they wouldn't want to express with their regular name.

I'm personally all for the Administration having secondary usernames. When I Moderated forums, I had secondary handles I used for generic posting and things like that. I did that for the simple reason that even though the Mods/Admins are supposed to be "regular people", they're often not treated as such by the other users on the forum - I've had experience where people felt that if they disagreed with the Mod on a topic (no matter how inane) they'd be put in "bad favor" with that Moderator. Thus, when I Moderate messageboards, I use the Mod username STRICTLY for Moderation, and then have a secondary name I use for discussions and stuff.

Moderators are like normal people but with special powers. They have the same rights as you and I. They should be allowed to use socks so long as they continue to use the Terms of Service with each post and not cause problems. Common sense Provails!

I only read the first page, but which mods anonymously PM people asking for opinions on the administration? That's not an actual practice, is it? Are we in Soviet Russia or McCarthy America?

I've never heard of a mod doing that, but if someone ever tried it, I suspect it would be so they could get an honest assessment of what we're doing right and wrong without having to worry the person doing the answering will either butter them up or be intentionally belligerent because it's a mod who's asking. The mod wouldn't be looking to BANE!!!1~ you merely for saying something anti-administration. If that happened, they'd get called on it by another mod.

I'm aware of a few situations where someone was banned in connection with making anti-administration remarks, but it's always been because of the way the things were said, not their actual content. Although some regulars of the Comms forum sometimes act as if the TOS only applies to regular members and it's perfectly okay to flame mods, I feel that criticisms of the administration can be construed as trolling if they're not made in accordance with the same rules we apply to every other post.

Darling, did it ever occur to you that moderators are regular member? Honestly, just because someone's promoted, they're supposed to stop posting in irreverant threads? Some times a mod just wants to sit back and not be recognized. Or they just aren't in the mood for digging up the scrap of paper that has their password of the month on it.

As for PMing people, um, you'd get better responses sending from the colored name. I sent out two "tell me anything" sets of PMs when I was a mod. Group was about eleven users each time, picked at random from the "users online" list. I excluded people I knew or recognized. The results? A few complaint about the RP forum, which I passed on since I couldn't understand a bleeding word of it, a suggestion for a game, and a couple "you guys are doing great!"

This, children, is what is called feedback.

The same thing goes for mods as goes for noncolored users: what you post with a sock is the same as if you had posted it with your usual name. Ergo, don't use a sock if you're trying to hide yourself. IP checks are wonderful, even if you're like me and can change your IP on a whim.

And, yes, I'm late in replying. But I've beat my addiction to this place, so therefore I'm weirder than any of you.